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Malaga Main Verdiales Festival
On the day of the Santos Inocentes, 28th December, Malaga
capital celebrates the Main Verdiales Festival. In the San
Cayetano inn at Puerto de la Torre lots of pandas (groups
of musicians and singers) gather from surrounding villages
and thousands of Malagans go there during the day to enjoy
the festive atmosphere. "Verdiales" are played,
following the tradition of the bands of verdiales who toured
to raise money for people injustly imprisoned.
According to some writers the verdial was the "ancient"
predecessor of flamenco. The origins of the verdial song and
dance are unknown although it is thought it may have been
a Phoenician dance later adapted to the rhythms of Christian
rituals.
The songs are happy and the dancers play castanets decorated
with long multicolored ribbons. They are accompanied by guitars,
primitive violins of 2 strings and tiny metal cymbals. The
verdiales are a colorful display of popular folklore due
to the spectacular handicrafted hats, decorated with bright
flowers, pieces of mirrored glass and multicolored ribbons.
The verse or copla is usually the classical quatrain, sometimes
with an extra line becoming a five-line verse. The dance,
generally performed by partners, is gracious and simple. Its
structure is usually made up of 3 verses with different corresponding
steps, many of which are jumps. The movements in between the
verses before the exchange of places become those of the Sevillana
dance, slightly simplified and with constant jumping. The
arms are in constant movement. The dancers move towards and
away from each other playfully, turn their backs, watch each
other, change places etc. As a rural dance it is performed
wearing alpargatas, a sandal-like shoe with a sole of plaited
hemp, decorated with vibrantly colored ribbons attached to
the leg.
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